


A Moment Here with You

by i_wont_fall_asleep



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, australian!liam, cooking!liam, dometic, seriously adorable sugary sweet fluff, sleepy!niall, the larry bit is like one sentence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 20:05:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1022843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_wont_fall_asleep/pseuds/i_wont_fall_asleep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just your basic "Liam wants to cook for Niall but messes it up" fic that is ridiculously sweet and fluffy.</p>
<p>Seriously, that's it.</p>
<p>(still pretty cute though)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Moment Here with You

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Becky, who after reading Room 317 developed a craving for niam!fluff and continued to bother me until I wrote this.
> 
> So blame her, not me.

Liam sat on the black and grey tiled floor of the attached kitchenette to his and Niall’s hotel room on the coast of Australia, head cradled in his hands, trying to remember when everything had gone horribly wrong.

**

 He had woken up early to go undetected to the market while the barely-still-blond slept, snoring slightly, to gather the lengthy list of ingredients needed to make the stew. He had needed to text Harry several times about the list, like what were russet potatoes exactly or what was the difference between tomato paste and actual tomatoes or what the fuck were bay leaves, until he received a final reply:

“ _liam, leave my boyfriend alone, we’re trying to sleep. ~louis =)”_

So for the next hour he was on his own until a little old Australian lady took pity on his wandering back and forth, and helped him finish the list off. He had offered her some money as a thank you but she had just shaken her head and said that she was happy to help young love.

“How did you know?” Liam asked, confused

She just laughed, “No one your age wakes up this early to roam a grocery store looking for ingredients for a difficult stew unless it’s for someone pretty.”

Liam had just blushed and smiled sheepishly as he left the store. He wasn’t sure how Niall would feel being called pretty-although he definitely was. It was something about that smile, just so ferocious and whole; if he was going to smile or laugh he was going to do it with all he had, and that was something Liam adored in him.

It was almost eight o’clock by the time he had gotten back, but he wasn’t worried because it was a day off and that meant that Niall would be asleep until ten or eleven, which gave him enough time to prepare the meal for lunch.

He left the bags of food on the counter and looked at the recipe and felt a little overwhelmed; there were quite a few steps and it looked way more complicated than Liam’s specialty of spaghetti with marinara sauce and some bread, but it was for Niall and so he would try.

First, he had to heat the olive oil-which was simple enough-to cook the beef in. He set to salting each strip of meat thoroughly and added them to the pan, earning a satisfied sizzle when it hit the oil. A few minutes later he flipped the pieces over, but their bottoms weren’t browned like they should have been, although Liam reckoned he hadn’t let them cook long enough and turned them back over.

Ten minutes later and the meat had barely browned and he sadly could tell he had dried the strips out.  He continued on, adding the garlic, beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves, hoping the multiple spices and flavours would mask the dry beef.

Turning down the heat to a simmer, he had to leave it for about an hour, which, he decided, gave him enough time to clean up the back patio, set out a table with some flowers he had bought at the market and hop into the shower.

After his shower, he came out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of grey sweats and a black tank top (he hadn’t shaved because he knew Niall loved the scruff), and walked into the kitchen to check on the stew. It looked well enough so he set it on the back to get the rest finished, and looking at the clock it was almost ten, so he had to hurry up.

He melted the butter in another large pot over medium heat, adding potatoes, onions and carrots; luckily the vegetables sautéed perfectly and smelled wonderful. Liam was actually pretty proud of being able to pull this off.

This was before he actually looked at the stew he had left to simmer.

The beef had stuck to the bottom of the pan, while the sauce looked like a congealed glop. He tried adding the vegetables blend to it, hoping it would help, but the meat stayed stuck and he had just mashed up the potatoes and carrots in his attempt to stir the mixture together.

Liam stared at the mess for awhile, first trying to think of how to salvage the stew, and then he switched to angry glaring at it, before, finally, sitting on the ground and wallowing in pity. All he had wanted to do was make a nice lunch for his boyfriend and instead he ruined it.

“Liam? What’re you doing on the floor?” a sleep-gruff Irish voiced asked from the doorway.

The older boy stood up quickly, almost knocking the stew off the stove, “Niall! Why are you up?”

Niall looked at him oddly, “Li, it’s almost eleven. And you weren’t in bed so I was looking for you,” that’s when he saw the chaotic counters and all the food, “What’s all this?”

Liam sighed and scratched at his neck, “Um. I was trying to make an Irish beef stew for lunch?”

“Why?” Niall’s blue eyes alight with fond amusement.

“Well, you were saying the other day how much you missed being in Ireland because we’re rarely ever there and so Harry helped me find this recipe to make for you.”

Niall eyed the bay leaves and the red wine bottle near the stove, “Where did you even get this stuff?”

Liam shrugged, “I went to that little grocery place down a little ways from the hotel and got it all this morning.”

“This morning? Liam, what time did you wake up?”

“Uh, I think ‘round five-ish?” Liam sighed again, “I’m really sorry, Niall. I fucked up the recipe and I-“

Niall covered Liam’s words with his hand, “Sh, Liam, stop. It’s awesome, thank you. Thank you for waking up early and going out and getting all this stuff and attempting to make it.”

Liam moved the hand, “But I messed up-“

This time Niall brushed his lips over Liam’s to quiet him, mumbling against him, “Li, I don’t give a shit about the stew; I care that you actually wanted to do this because I was homesick. That’s what matters. And besides, we can still eat it.”

“No, Niall, it’s really stuck together and it looks-“

“Delicious. I saw you set a table out on the patio-thanks for the flowers, by the way-so you get some beers and I’ll dish us up some stew, okay?”

Liam just stared in amazement at his boyfriend before shaking his head with a smile and getting the drinks.

The two sat out in the warm golden Australian sun, with the salty, fresh breeze from the ocean mixing harmoniously with the sweet scent of the flowers, making it a peaceful afternoon.

 He honestly though the stew tasted terrible, but Niall kept commenting on how tasty it was and kept shooting him cute, goofy smiles in his direction while playing footsy with him underneath the table.

And Liam sat there, on the serene Sunday afternoon, holding his boyfriend’s hand and eating the shittiest Irish beef stew anyone had ever probably made, and he couldn’t have been happier about it.

**Author's Note:**

> I just googled a random recipe and I'm sorry for any inaccuracies.


End file.
